I have raised my concerns about legal aspects of the planning consent bond and financing of the Pleasurama development as a formal complaint to Thanet District Council. Click here to read it. It almost seems that they prefer to answerer questions via the complaints procedure than in the normal way.The problem though is that all this sort of thing costs so much, most of the information that people want could easily be put online where people could access it, the documentation that relates to this large development can hardly be a secret, the value of the bond is already in the public domain, the relevant documents should be published with the plans.
While I was submitting my complaint online I noticed that the complaint about webcasting council meetings that I submitted on 19th Feb. doesn’t appear in the list of complaints on the councils website, so it would appear that the council are massaging their complaints figures.
One way or another I am determined that Ramsgate doesn’t get another five years of deserted building site while the developer, architect and contractor mess around submitting more plans that are not compliant with Environment Agency advice on fundamental safety issues.
I am glad that you made the point that you are not against the development in principle.
ReplyDeleteIf more people took this on board then it would be more widely seen that your cause is about safety.
In the end if safety is questionable then marketability will be reduced, mortgageability compromised.
So it makes sense all round that TDC make a diligent response consistent with their positive duty to investigate to protect life.
With regard to axle loading and the ramp, did they stipulate a factor of safety ? Or were calculations based on worst case axle weight and braking load with no multiple for an FOS ?
By the way Michael My cause file went walkies at High Court for a while (Post Office tracking shew it had been delivered) but well done Admin Court staff today because they have tracked it down and it should be actioned tomorrow.
Will it be returned for procedural errors or will I get a sealed copy of the cause to serve on Mike Fuller Chief constable of Kent ?
As you know there has been a development on Sericol contamination but I gave Saul Leese of Gazette exclusive to report until this Friday.
Best wishes
I'm not surprised the council are tending to ignore you. I'm new to this blog but I've already noticed you appear to know best on:
ReplyDeleteWater pollution at Manston
Financial Viability of Manston
Pollution Legislation
Water Pollution at Thanet Earth
Coastal Protection at Reculver
Marine Environment at Pegwell Bay
Chemical Pollution at Sericol
Flood Protection at Pleasurama
Health and Safety at Pleasurama
General Planning Regulations
General Environmental Concerns
There's a theme developing here!!I guess the council are as gutted by your constant dabbling as I am amused by it.
Richard, thought I would do a longer comment than you for a change. In the end I concluded that Richard Samuel really wanted me to raise it to complaint level, I am beginning to think that both officers and councillors have had enough of the crazy situation over Pleasurama and would like to see a safe and workable development there.
ReplyDeleteReally the bottom line on this development is that as the EA have recommended a FRA and escapes http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/ea/ if it is built to the new plans when we have the next big tidal surge storm if people in the building are killed because they can’t escape the new corporate manslaughter laws put everyone involved in the frame.
The plan at the moment seems to be to evacuate the whole building every time we have a forecast for a storm and high tide, this approach doesn’t seem practical.
I wouldn’t be digging my heels in on this one if I didn’t think it was important, what I fail to understand is there must be people on the council staff that have been involved with storm damage in Ramsgate it’s only 1978 when we had the one that picked up chunks of granite weighing several tons doing severe damage to the harbour wall.
You can appreciate the harbour wall is considerably higher than the base line development will be, where the damage is done is just a matter of wind direction, just imagine what the situation would have been with the Turner Centre if there hadn’t been a storm when the prototype was there.
It’s not so much about axle loading both they and I ran a computer program, which incorporates standard safety factors I came up with about 10 tonnes per wheel, they wouldn’t tell me what they came up with.
Firstly the program is for engineering bricks, not the crumbling Victorian house bricks. Secondly the greatest strain is when a train of vehicles going down the hill brakes in an emergency.
One arch being lower than the one before it weakens the structure anyway the main arches are only 2 barrels with lose chalk infill the tarmac on top is the only waterproofing the structure has.
The worst part of the structure in my opinion are the single barrel lower arches with the damaged piped culvert beneath them click on the link for the pictures http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/tdc/id50.htm in civil engineering terms single barrel arches are not normally associated road bridge structures and I couldn’t properly calculate the stresses on the lower level.
I figured that if the bricks were in good condition and on a concrete foundation the lower level would be very strong because of the load spread however because of its age it’s almost bound to be built directly on chalk if this is undermined by water there is likely to be a collapse here, if you click on the link http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/collapse/ you will see pictures of another arched structure that collapsed in Ramsgate, one of the civil engineers I showed the pictures to said he thought it was cased by undermining.
I shall be interested to see what’s new with Sericol last I heard remediation was to start again.
16.16 I think you must have omitted to use the links scattered all over this blog that take you to the documentation from the EA, Southern Water, Jacobs, land registry et al that substantiate what I say.
Michael
ReplyDeleteThere are people who will never forgive a man for being right.
And as for being right more than once ......
I will email you the Sericol news Michael and if Gazette don't carry it this Friday then feel free to publish.
ReplyDeleteI am interested to see what editorial criteria apply at the Gazette
Richard I think the problem here is a philosophical one really something akin to the Postplatonic Neoplatonism expounded in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, it sort boils down to if you have an engineering background you view all science and engineering differently to one who doesn’t.
ReplyDeleteThe nonengineer guy in that book couldn’t come to terms that his expensive motorcycle had been repaired properly and permanently with an aluminium shim made from a coke can and was determined to get the proper service part fitted, an aluminium shim.